My Father went off to war too
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: It's time to learn what happened to Tumnus' father


Author's Note: All right, before anyone starts yelling at me for not making another chapter to my other story; I'm still working on it! This is just a little story that came into my head when I finally saw the movie. You remember when Lucy tells Tumnus that her father is at war, and he says that his father went off to war too years ago…yeah…this is where this one came from.

And also, one of the lines in here is from the Sandman. Can anyone guess what line it is, who said, and which book it's from?

On With the Story!

It was five years since Jadis came to Narnia and took over it little by little, and it was time to turn Narnia back to the green paradise it once had been. He was tired of standing by and watching his forest and his friends being turned to stone, and even his own family had not been spared the loss others had felt.

His wife…beautiful Isabel…she had been turned to stone, and her statue shattered into pieces and thrown into the sea.

Leart narrowed his eyes slightly at the memory, staring in the flames of the fire in his fireplace, and he looked up when he heard his son coming in.

Tumnus shivered slightly, shaking his head before he stomped his hooves on the floor to shake off the fur that had clung to his fur. He looked up at his father, and he gave him a weak smile, his heart pounding.

"Took you longer than usual to get the food, Tumnus." Leart commented calmly, looking back into the fire. "What held you up?"

For a moment, Tumnus paused, looking around for a moment as he tried to think of an answer.

"Your answer is not in here." Leart snapped at his son, turning to face him as he narrowed his eyes. "Where were you?" he asked once more.

"I…" Tumnus wrung the red scarf in his hands, biting his lower lip slightly as he looked into his father's eyes. "I was held up in the store."

His father was across the room so fast that Tumnus could do nothing when his father suddenly struck him across the face, leaving a red handprint on his cheek with one loud clap and meeting of the flesh.

"Mr. Robin told me that he saw you talking with the White Witch!" Leart shouted at his son. "Have you forgotten what she did to your mother?" Tumnus backed away from his father, resting a hand on his sore cheek as he looked at him with watery eyes. "HAVE YOU!" Leart demanded.

"No! No, I have not forgotten what she did, but all you do is talk about this Aslan coming back to stop her, and he hasn't!" Tumnus shouted back at him.

"What are you trying to say?" Leart asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Aslan does not exist, father! If he did then he would have gotten rid of Jadis anymore. She told me the truth about him and everything. How can I believe in someone I have never met with my own eyes?"

"I have seen Aslan." Leart said.

"But that does not help me!" Tumnus shot back at him. "I don't care if you claim to have seen him. Why isn't he here to stop her himself!"

"What have you done?" Leart asked.

"Jadis gave me a job…"

"Never!" Leart suddenly shouted. "Never will a son of mine work with that witch!"

"She is a queen!" Tumnus countered. "And she promised to leave you alone if I worked for her, so I am! You can't stop me from serving her, father."

Leart only stared at his son for a moment more, and he then turned and walked away from him, gathering up some of his things into a backpack.

"Where are you going?" Tumnus asked, watching his father packing.

"Away from my traitor son." Leart said, heading for the door with his pack over one shoulder.

"Father…"

Leart passed by him without another word, and when his son called out for him to stop and stay with him, he said nothing, and not once did he look back.

Tumnus fell to his knees, and he watched his father leave, bitter tears falling down his cheeks as he bowed his head in despair.

Months Later:

Maugrim and his wolves were off hunting, and they had caught a small family of rabbits out after the curfew Jadis had set since a small bad of rebels had started to attack outposts and raids she had set up. The band was starting to get too well liked amongst those who wished for her to leave, and she had set a high reward for anyone who was able to tell her who their leader was, and where they were located.

All she had learned was that their leader was an old Faun, and that was all she got before the Centaur she was torturing died from the amount of blood he had lost.

Maugrim licked his lips slightly, and slobber fell into the snow as his tail swished from side to side.

"Eat the babes." He told his men. "We'll save the mother and father for the queen to question!"

As one of the wolves went to chomp up one of the babes, an arrow flew out and took it into the ear and into its brain, striking him dead on impact.

A second later, and Maugrim and his men found themselves surrounded by Centaurs and Fauns armed and ready for war. Two wolves dove forward to try and fight their way out, but a few swift strokes of some swords left them slain on the snow.

"The next wolf to try and attack will receive the same." Someone in the back said calmly. "We only wish to parley with you for a moment before letting you go." Maugrim snarled softly, his fur on his neck standing up slightly as he bared his fangs.

"And who is it that asks for this parley?" he demanded. Calmly, an armed Faun stepped forward, his scimitar still resting in its sheath. He looked at Maugrim with piercing blue eyes, and he rested his hands on his hips calmly.

"Leart asks for this parley, and if you cherish your life, you will accept the offer and sit down and listen. If not, then I shall kill you and name another wolf here your successor and give the message to him instead." Slowly, Maugrim sat down on his haunches, and soon the rest of the wolves did so as well.

"What is this message?" he asked, pricking his ears up slightly.

"Tell Jadis that this is a war, and that two nights from now we will be coming to her at her castle. We give her this warning out of the rules of warfare, and for nothing else."

"You will die when you come there." Maugrim snarled. Leart smiled faintly, and he calmly picked up a few of the rabbit babies as the rest were taken by a Centaur.

"Perhaps, and perhaps it is you and your queen who will be the ones to die." He said simply, and he and the rest of his men were gone just as swiftly as they had come, leaving the wolves alone.

"Come on." Maugrim said with a snarl to his men. "We need to see the queen."

"What about our dead?"

"The crows will deal with those idiots."

When Jadis was told this message, she raged for a moment, and she then remembered who Leart was, and who was part of his family. She smiled faintly, and she asked that Tumnus be brought to her at once.

Two Days Later:

Leart had been able to gather more citizens of Narnia who wished to fight the witch. One of them included the giant Rumblebuffin; who had armed himself with a club and promised to smash the queen easily like a small bug of some kind.

Leart stood at the head of his army, and he slowly drew his blade, adjusting it slightly in his grip. This was it, and he told himself over and over again in his head that the Lion was going to be standing beside him and fighting alongside him, in spirit since he was not in the flesh here.

He looked to his left as the Centaur Oreius stepped up to stand beside him, his tail swishing at his flanks slightly.

"If we fail, I want you to retreat with as many as you can." Leart told him calmly. Oreius shook his head.

"I'm not going to run if you plan on staying, Leart." Oreius argued calmly.

"Then who will help the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve should they arrive after this?" Leart asked, looking over at him calmly. "They will need a strong general to help them lead their armies, and I am sure that you will stand by their side as you have stood by mine."

"But you are telling me to leave your side."

"Only to help serve a higher purpose in the end." Leart said. "This is the last thing I will ask of you, Oreius. Will you deny it to me?" He looked over at the centaur with sad and tired eyes, and Oreius could do nothing but nod his head slightly, drawing his twin scimitars.

"All right." He said at last.

"Then let's go!"

Jadis had stationed Dwarven archers on the outside of her walls, and when she heard them firing and slaying some of her attackers, she smiled faintly and she turned to Ginarrbrik, who drew his curved dagger and licked the edge with a cruel smile.

"You know what to do and when to do it." She told him calmly, and when he nodded, she headed for her courtyard, her sword and wand held in either hand as she waited for her army and the enemies to clash into each other.

Leart and half of his men were able to break through most of the witch's defenses with the help of Rumblebuffin, and soon they were met by the witch and her elite guard of Minotaurs.

"Kill the others. The Faun I will fight." Jadis said calmly, and steel clashed once more.

Rumblebuffin ignored the Minotaurs that were chopping at his feet with their battleaxes, and he raised up his axe to finish Jadis once and for all when she raised up her wand, and he was turned into nothing more than a statue.

She smiled up at the statue but was soon forced to use her sword when Leart dove at her, their blades clashing and locking together. The two fought like mad, ignoring everyone and everything around them. Jadis was able to get the upper hand at one point, pushing Leart back, but Leart was able to duck one of her blows and slash upwards, cutting the inside of her arm.

Jadis stared at the black blood that flowed from her wound, and her eyes grew wide as she turned back to Leart.

"So you actually have blood inside of you! I thought it was nothing but ice and snow in there!" Leart laughed, lashing out at her once more. Jadis was slowly pushed back, and a look of dismay soon crossed her face as she stumbled and fell onto her rump, her wand leaving her grip. Leart stood over her and with a smile and pointed the tip of his sword at her.

"Any last words witch?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow slightly. Her fearful face soon melted away, and she gave him a wicked smile, wagging a finger at him as if he was a naughty child.

"Now now! If you kill me, then you kill your son!" she said. "Tumnus isn't it? Such a nice name for such a timid little thing." Leart slowly lowered his sword and when Jadis looked over her shoulder, he followed her gaze, and his heart fell.

Tumnus was kneeling on the floor, his hands bound behind him as Ginarrbrik forced his head back, his dagger resting on his throat.

"Tumnus…"

"If you drop your sword and give yourself up, I will spare your son and allow him to live in relative peace." Jadis offered gently. "If not…"

Very slowly, Ginarrbrik pricked Tumnus' skin, and he made a thin trail of blood down his neck, causing the Faun to whimper softly despite himself.

"Stop!" Leart shouted, and he dropped his sword almost at once with a clatter. "You win! Just let my son go, Jadis!"

Jadis stood up in triumph and she pressed her foot down on his blade, causing it to shatter as she looked at the defeated Leart, two of her Minotaurs grabbed him by the arms and tearing off his helmet.

When Oreius saw Leart surrender to the queen and be brought into her castle, he wanted to charge up and help him get away, but instead he clenched his teeth and he shouted for a retreat, charging out and away from the castle. A large number of the army was able to follow him, but Jadis was able to snipe a few while they were running, and new statues were placed in her courtyard afterwards.

"Let Tumnus go, Ginarrbrik." Jadis said, heading inside calmly after her Minotaurs and Leart. "He has served his purpose very well actually, and I expect you to pay him for his services thusly."

For a moment, Ginarrbrik made as if he were going to slit Tumnus' throat anyway, but he swiftly cut away his bonds and he shoved him down the steps, laughing as the Faun looked at him with tearful eyes.

"Don't you worry about your father, Faun." He said, taking out a small pouch of coins from his pocket. "He will be well taken care of." He hurled the pouch into Tumnus' face, and it burst open, spilling out thirteen silver coins on the snowy ground. "That's how much our queen pays you a month to serve her isn't it? Consider it a bonus along with your normal pay this month!"

Soon, Tumnus was left alone in the courtyard, and all he could do was stare down at the coin on the ground, his tears falling down helplessly as he covered his face with his hands.

Two Days Later:

Leart was to die tomorrow; Jadis had given the sentence herself after she had tried all she could to make him renounce Aslan and join her royal guard.

First, Jadis had tried her words, asking him where his Aslan was while he was down in her dungeon, suffering because he believed in a silly old lion with powers.

Leart started to sing a song about Aslan, and Jadis knew that there was no way she was going to win that way.

Her next attempt was by torturing him. She had his horns sawn off, and with her magic she turned his cloven hooves into plain ones like a horse's. When this did nothing, she had him beaten, and his beard was plucked out one hair at a time. With every pluck, she ordered him to renounce Aslan, and to serve her in her army.

Leart took the pain with gritted teeth, and he simply closed his eyes, ignoring her as Ginarrbrik shattered one of his arms and one of his legs.

"I will have you executed if you do not serve me." Jadis snarled. "On the Stone Table where all traitors are to die by my hands and stone dagger."

"Then kill me on the table." Leart said, his voice having gotten weaker due to the pain and long hours in his frozen cell. "I twill do you no good. My son is still out there, and so is Aslan."

"Your son serves me!" Jadis raged. "He is the only smart one in your family! He'll be the only one left if you do not do as I tell you! Do you remember what I did to your wife?" Leart lifted up his head, and he curled his lip slightly in a snarl, his teeth bared at her.

"I remember…" he growled softly.

"Then why do you want to suffer worse than she did?" Jadis asked. "If you served me, I would replace Otmin with you, and you would be my general and command my army." Turning his head away, Leart spit blood out of his mouth and onto the floor.

"What makes you think I would want such a thing?" he asked. She narrowed her eyes, and for a moment he wanted to give the order that Leart was to die in the morning, but instead she clenched her teeth, and she decided to give him one last chance.

"I give you one last time, Leart. Think about it; you could be a general, and I would make your son a lord of my kingdom. He would have as many slaves as he wanted, and so would you. I have been meaning to take Calormen and Archenland as my own as well. You could be king of Archenland, and your son would rule Calormen."

"We would only rule by having you slaughter the royal families of those countries; just as you could the royal family of Narnia through poison!" Leart spat back at her.

"Then your answer is?"

Leart took a deep breath, and he spit out a large bit of blood onto Jadis' dress, causing her to scream out and kick him in the face in anger.

"So be it!" she raged. She turned to Ginarrbrik then, and he smiled at her. "Let it be known that tomorrow the traitor Leart is to be executed on the Stone Table. I want all the citizens of Narnia to be there, and I want his son to have a front row seat to his father's death. That way the little bastard won't end up like his father!"

Ginarrbrik flashed another one of his nasty smiles, and he bowed down low to his queen, heading off to deliver the message.

That Night:

Leart lifted his head when he heard the sound of light hooves coming towards his cell door, and he shifted his legs slightly, unable to stand due to the weights tied to his ankles. He knew who it was without having to think about; how many times had he heard that walking pattern when they were growing up?

Slowly, Tumnus opened the cell door, and at the sight of his father and his condition, he couldn't help but look away for a moment, covering his eyes.

His father was covered in his own blood, and his shattered limbs were hideously twisted and contorted in such a way, that even if he were to live, he would never be able to use them again. Jadis had also bound his ankles and his wrists in heavy chains and around his neck there rested a large and heavy iron ball there, keeping his head bowed down. His horns were nothing but stubs now, chipped and barely there, and when Tumnus looked closer, he saw that his father's hooves were no longer cloven.

Tumnus chocked up softly, and for a moment he wasn't going to come in, but his father had heard him, and he wasn't going to let his son leave him without saying anything. If he did, then his son would never forgive himself for that.

"Where are you going?" he called out softly. Tumnus stopped for a moment, and slowly he walked into the room, his ears drooped slightly.

"Father…"

"I thought you weren't coming." Leart said softly. "Did Jadis give you a room to wait for my execution tomorrow?" Tumnus fell to his knees beside his father, and he bowed his head, using his red scarf as a handkerchief to wipe away the tears that were starting to fall.

"Father…I…" Leart looked his son in the eyes, and he shook his head faintly, the chains rattling gently.

"Now is not the time to talk about who was right and who was wrong." He told him gently. "All there is to say is that I am going to be leaving you in the morning, and that I do not want to see your tears when it happens. Aslan will take care of me, and he will take care of you. That's all that really needs to be said."

"But what am I to do?" Tumnus asked. "I am in the witch's service, and how am I to get out of it? She will kill me if I betray her so fast." He blushed for a moment after he said this, and he bowed his head in shame. His father was going to die because he refused to serve the witch, and here he was saying that he could not escape because he was afraid of dying like his father was.

Leart lifted up Tumnus' head with one finger, and he gave him a faint smile.

"When the time is right, you will know what to do." He told him gently. Fresh tears began to fall from Tumnus eyes, and Leart wiped them away with his thumb.

"I'm afraid." Tumnus whispered. Leart nodded a bit, and he lowered his hand back to his side.

"I know you are." He said. "Most people are afraid when they are given a mission from Aslan. The point is for you to do the mission Aslan has given you; afraid or not." Tumnus nodded a bit, and he and his father hugged before he got to his hooves and he quietly left his father once more, holding onto his scarf tightly.

The Next Morning at the Stone Table:

Leart was bound to the Stone Table in an X formation, his shattered arm and leg screaming as some bone poked out of the flesh and fur. He was staring up at that hateful Dwarf Ginarrbrik, and he barely flinched as the Dwarf spit in his face.

Around the table stood Jadis' named lords and ladies; Hags, Minotaurs, and a single Werewolf. They laughed and hissed softly to one another, pointing at the bound Faun and mocking his attempt at overthrowing their beloved queen.

Behind the lords and penned in by armed Minotaurs, stood the people of Narnia. Most wept openly at the upcoming execution of the one person who had been able to breach the witch's defenses, while others wept either in silence or not at all.

Tumnus was of the latter, though he did wring his scarf so tightly in his hands that his knuckles were white. He watched his father helplessly and his eyes grew wide slightly when his father turned his head to one side, meeting his eyes with his own. He slowly let go of his scarf, and he lifted his head up as a son of Leart should do, and when Jadis came, he was not afraid of her this time.

Jadis looked down at Leart with such a nasty smile, and she calmly held the stone knife in one hand, twirling it between her fingers lazily.

"I gave you a chance to rule an entire country, Leart." She said to him. "You threw it away for a silly giant pussy cat that is never coming back!"

"Aslan may not be here now, but he will come back one day." Leart said softly. "And when he does, I hope that he eats your face off, Jadis!"

Gritting her teeth, Jadis looked up at the crowd, and she shouted out a traitor's crimes of murder, and treachery along with the corruption of her perfect Narnia. She explained to the Narnians that it was Leart who had caused all of their suffering, because if not for him, she would not have had to be so strict with her laws and punishments.

"But after he is dead, all will be put back right once more!" she promised. "After his blood has been shed, we can all go back to our normal lives!"

As she spoke, Jadis began to weave a spell, and soon those who were weeping were soon angry, and they were soon calling out for Leart's blood when just before they were asking for him not to be put to death.

Jadis smiled at their shouts for blood, and she looked down at Leart with this smile, raising the knife of stone up high over her head.

"How does it feel to know that you have failed, Faun?" she hissed softly. "Aslan is never coming, and one day your son is going to be put to death the same way I killed your wife!" Leart closed his eyes as she spoke, and he smiled faintly to himself.

Jadis grew furious when she saw his smile, and with a scream she plunged the knife into his heart and twisted it twice around.

Tumnus clutched at his own heart when he saw the knife go in, and he shut his eyes tightly, walking away amidst the combination of cheers and tears on the hill.

He stayed in his little cave for a long time after that, and he promised himself that should he ever meet a child of Adam or of Eve, he would do his best to remember his father.


End file.
